After Super Tuesday: John Nichols reports on the evidence of weaknesses of both Biden and Trump, as well as some signs of strength, in the wake of voting in primaries in 16 states. Also: Now is the time to add the right to vote to the constitution – that’s what Richard Hasen says. And, he argues, there are good reasons why Republicans could support that--maybe not this year, but sometime soon. Rick is professor of law and political science at UCLA and author of the new book “A Real Right to Vote...
Mar 06, 2024•47 min
On this episode of American Prestige , Danny and Derek speak with Gabriel Hetland , associate professor of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latina/o Studies and Sociology at the University at Albany, about his book Democracy on the Ground: Local Politics in Latin America’s Left Turn . We discuss the regional shift to the Left, how right-wing forces reacted to this trend, the ways democracy has been shaped by these conditions, and the different tacks taken by leftist movements, particularly in Boli...
Mar 05, 2024•57 min
On this News episode of American Prestige , Danny and Derek work on leap days. This week: in Gaza, a massacre in Gaza City (0:29), ceasefire talks (5:20), and Netanyahu’s postwar plan (8:35); the U.S. and U.K. launch more joint airstrikes against Yemen (10:25); North Korea trades arms for food with Russia (11:54); in Sudan, military groups block aid shipments to Darfur (14:13); a new date is set for a presidential election in Senegal (15:58); a Ukraine War update (19:04); Sweden’s NATO accession...
Mar 01, 2024•32 min
An abortion rights amendment to Florida’s constitution has gotten enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Now it’s up to the state’s supreme court to decide whether people will get to vote on it, potentially transforming the electorate there in November. The Nation ’s abortion access correspondent, Amy Littlefield, is on the podcast to report. Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: This week is the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To commemorate the annivers...
Feb 28, 2024•31 min
On this episode of American Prestige, hosts Danny Bessner and Derek Davison speak with Daniel Hummel, director for university engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Upper House. Hummel returns to the podcast to continue a conversation about Christian Zionism in the United States since 1948. In this episode, we pick up with the rise of the new Christian right in the 1970s, the role of Zionism therein, dispensationalism and its notion of Jews and Israel, the Israeli right’s concurrent...
Feb 27, 2024•54 min
This week, on American Prestige: Danny and Derek are just the messengers. This week: in Gaza, ceasefire talks may be heating up again, America assesses the UNRWA allegations, and more (0:42); Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthi) militants potentially sink a cargo ship, damage another ship, and attack Eilat (12:11); a potential governing coalition is formed in Pakistan (14:31); tensions between Taiwan and China over the Kinmen Islands (17:13); in Senegal, Macky Sall agrees to reschedule the election, but...
Feb 23, 2024•43 min
On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Grafton Tanner to discuss the dangers and consequences of companies and politicians leveraging nostalgia for their own purposes. Grafton Tanner is the author of Foreverism . He also teaches at the University of Georgia. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Feb 22, 2024•57 min
A political battle is underway in Los Angeles, where landlords, multi-millionaires, and the police are trying to defeat the leading progressive on the city council. Their key issues are protection for renters and new taxes on mansions. Also on this episode of Start Making Sense : A new podcast brings us stories from the early days of HIV & AIDS. It's about how the epidemic decimated poor communities of color and the people who refused to stay out of sight. WNYC's Kai Wright and The Nation 's...
Feb 21, 2024•38 min
On this episode of American Prestige , Danny and Derek speak with David Halperin, retired professor of Jewish studies at UNC Chapel Hill, about his book Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO. The group looks at the phenomenon of UFO encounters as part of a longer tradition of mythology, examining their relationship to the historical epochs in which they occur, their place in politics and culture, and what ultimately the search for aliens says about our own views of humanity. Advertising In...
Feb 20, 2024•55 min
The mathematician Chandler Davis, who died in 2002 at age 96, was one of the notable victims of the second Red Scare. In 1960, Davis was sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to answer questions about his membership in the Communist Party. Davis’s lawyers defended him with the innovative legal argument that the First Amendment barred such questioning. While Davis lost in the courts, his legal battles were still an important effort in a larger battle to extend the parameters on political...
Feb 18, 2024•36 min
On this week's news episode of American Prestige : Global military spending reached new heights in 2023 (0:31); an update on Gaza (3:51); a major exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah (12:12); contentioius election results in Pakistan (14:38); reports of the military in disarray in Myanmar (19:08); Indonesia holds a general election (22:36); protests continue in Senegal (25:11); allegations of a massacre in Ethiopia (27:19); Russia might be planning for space nukes (29:58); Venezuela is ...
Feb 16, 2024•39 min
On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Zachary Kaiser is on the show with Paris Marx to discuss the power of tech interfaces, why data isn’t an accurate reflection of the world, and why we need to explore democratic decomputerization. Zachary Kaiser is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Experience Architecture at Michigan State University. He’s also the author of Interfaces and Us: User Experience Design and the Making of the Computable Subject. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 3 min
The blue-blood families that made fortunes in the opium trade: Amitav Ghosh recounts the origins of much of the wealth for the 19th century New England elite on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast. He wrote the cover story for The Nation 's latest print issue. His new book is called Smoke and Ashes . Also on this episode: The latest US moves in Haiti are framed in democratic rhetoric but are deeply anti-democratic in their effect. Amy Wilentz is on the podcast to explain . She’s writt...
Feb 14, 2024•38 min
On this episode of American Prestige, Derek speaks with Elizabeth Shackelford, former U.S. diplomat and current foreign affairs columnist for The Chicago Tribune , about U.S. involvement across Africa. They talk about Elizabeth’s own history in Somalia and South Sudan, America’s understanding of the places in which it’s involved, the generational timeline needed to change the trajectory of foreign policy, where the securitized view of Africa began, how the U.S. has approached places like Burkina...
Feb 13, 2024•52 min
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, a discussion with Adam Johnson on the Democrats' failed border policy. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Feb 11, 2024•27 min
On this week's News episode of American Prestige: the U.S. hits targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the American troops killed in Jordan (0:30); Israel refuses Hamas’ terms for a ceasefire as IDF troops enter Rafah (6:06); in the Philippines, a feud between Sebastian Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. escalates (11:46); in Sudan, humanitarian assistance is cut off and telecom services are down as the catastrophe intensifies (15:04); President Macky Sall postpones elections in Se...
Feb 09, 2024•39 min
On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Nastasia Hadjadji to discuss Emmanuel Macron’s plan to run France like a start-up, how that justified a further dismantling of France's welfare state, and how his desire to create national tech champions is having domestic consequences. Nastasia Hadjadji is a French journalist looking at tech from the lens of political economy and is the author of “No Crypto. Comment Bitcoin a envoûté la planète.” Advertising Inquiries: https://redci...
Feb 08, 2024•55 min
Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon is one of our leading progressives, and one of 5 Senators to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. He's on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast to explain why, and to discuss his new book, “Filibustered! How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America.” Also on this episode: the case for disqualifying Trump as a candidate, based on the 14th Amendment banning those who have engaged in insurrection from holding public office. That case goes before the Supreme Court ...
Feb 07, 2024•45 min
On this episode of the American Prestige , podcast, hosts Danny and Derek welcome back Samuel Huneke , assistant professor of history at George Mason University, to talk about his new book, A Queer Theory of the State . The group discusses the various notions of queer theory and the state, how queer politics and activism can engage in state power, the neoliberal contingent of the queer community, where thinkers from Michel Foucault to Judith Sklar fit into this, and Huneke’s vision of what a que...
Feb 06, 2024•47 min
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Moira Donegan on Joe Biden’s need to embrace pro-choice politics. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Feb 04, 2024•36 min
On this news episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek return with headlines from around the globe. This week: the ICJ decision on Israel (0:29), Israeli accusations of UNRWA (5:08), ceasefire talks (10:35), and Biden sanctions settlers (15:56); a U.S. outpost in Jordan is bombed by a drone (18:54); secret Sudan peace talks in Bahrain (23:52); several countries quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (25:37); in Ukraine, Zelensky fires a top commander (27:23); the Biden a...
Feb 02, 2024•44 min
On this episode of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast, Paris Marx is joined by Victor Pickard to discuss the continued layoffs in news media, and how they are symptomatic of a deeper, structural crisis in journalism. Victor Pickard is Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at University of Pennsylvania. He’s also the author of Democracy Without Journalism?: Confronting the Misinformation Society . Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.c...
Feb 01, 2024•1 hr 4 min
The Nation’s annual Progressive Honor Roll features movement leaders who provide hope for 2024. John Nichols tells their stories. Also: California moved one step closer to universal healthcare on January 1, when it expanded coverage to all low-income residents, regardless of immigration status. Sasha Abramsky reports. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Jan 31, 2024•33 min
On this episode of the American Prestige podcast, Danny and Derek sit down with Adam Ganser and Michael Swaim of the 1Upsmanship podcast to discuss the confluence of history, U.S. foreign policy, and capitalism in video games. The group broaches topics like the implicit politics of first-person shooters, the capitalist logic in games based on survival and growth, the portrayal of governments in different series, and how far developers can go to portray the reality of war in a game. Check out mor...
Jan 30, 2024•57 min
On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek chat with Aslı Bâli , professor of law at Yale Law School. Aslı, whose research focuses largely on human rights law and the law of the international security order, helps us break down the legal definition of genocide, the substance of the ICJ ruling and what was ordered, and the court’s ability to enforce it. The conversation continues for subscribers, covering the American legal community’s reaction, how this decision compares with the ICJ...
Jan 29, 2024•19 min
On this week's news episode of American Prestige: Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks amble along (0:30), Netanyahu snubs Qatar (5:11), militants kill 21 IDF soldiers in a single attack (10:25), and more from Israel-Palestine; in Yemen, the U.S. prepares for a “sustained military campaign” (15:40) while a new report details the effect of sanctions on humanitarian relief (16:50); talk of (another) U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq (19:24); Pakistan and Iran agree to stand down (22:22); India’s Modi opens ...
Jan 26, 2024•36 min
On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us , Paris Marx is joined by Eric Silver to discuss Spotify’s big plan to dominate podcasting, why it’s now pulling back from those efforts, and the difference between highly produced and more independent podcasts. Eric Silver is a podcast producer and head of development at Multitude. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Jan 25, 2024•1 hr
On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols has our analysis on the New Hampshire primary--Biden's big win, and Trump's furious victory speech. Also: Adam Shatz talks about Franz Fanon, whose books Wretched of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks made him a huge figure on the left, not just in the '60s when they were published, but in the era of Black Lives Matter when “his shadow looms larger than ever.” Now he's the subject of Adam's new book, The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Liv...
Jan 24, 2024•44 min
On this episode of American Prestige, Patrice Lumumba, the first president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has become a mythic figure among the left, due in no small part to the CIA’s role in his ousting and assassination less than one year after the start of his premiership. Stuart Reid , editor at Foreign Affairs , joins Derek to discuss the full story of Lumumba’s downfall, as detailed in Reid’s recent book The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination . Ad...
Jan 23, 2024•52 min
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I speak with Trita Parsi, vice president and co-founder of The Quincy Institute, about the cascading violence in the region. We also take up the Biden administration’s decision to double down on its push for a Saudi/Israeli alliance, a program that could itself deepen the violence. As an alternative, we consider the possibility of other great powers taking over the job of negotiating a settlement to the regions problems. Trita has written on these issues ...
Jan 21, 2024•29 min
